Compelling Evidence (27 page)

"Let's dispense with the formalities." 18 not alone. d1ink you know Detective Lama."

Lama keeps turning up, Re a bad penny. His hand starts e Out from his side to take mine in greeting. This is a show ‐civic of you," I say, Nelson laughs a little and opens a file on his desk. ,"I don't suppose you've heard yet?" he says. "The judge assigned to the case?"

I look at him, all eyes. "Armando Acosta," he says. The Coconut. The chief prosecutor in a county such as this possesses many advantages of office, not the least of which is an intelligence system with pipelines to every police precinct and courtroom in the city. "You should get notice this afternoon," he says. I can tell from Nelson's tone this news is supposed to concern me. I have drawn 3 d a man anxious to flash a message of law and order to the lu 18C voters @fore the law forces him to run for election in a year. Actually I'm surprised. With a shortage of Latino candidates, and affirmative action being what it is, the grapevine is full of rumors that Acosta is headed to the court of appeals. Nelson wastes no time, launching into the evidence, the strength of their case, the overwhelming circumstances, all of which he says point to my client as part of a conspiracy to kill her husband.

He's not giving anything away. It's a rerun of the evidence trotted out in the preliminary hearing, no indications that they've altered the theory of their case. If you believe him, the cops are making little headway on identifying Talia's co‐defendant. But it's only ‐a matter of time, according to Nelson. I think this is a little bo6wand‐weave for our benefit. By now they must know about Tod. He's done everything but light himself in neon. Lama chimes in, as if to advance the company line a little. "The lady had so many lovers it's hard to get a fix," he says.

"Spare me," I tell him. "We'll get him," says Lama. Like most of what Jimmy Lama * to say, this comes off sounding like the cheap threat it il

"We have a carefully constructed case here," Nelson cuts in. take no short cuts," he says. "I'm not interested in that. I twant the people who did the crime."

While these words are delivered to me, Lama sits quietly .g at his boss, a little rebuked, i@lf You ask me," he says, "I will tell you the truth.

I believe Your client did it. Otherwise I would never have charged I'm not interested in political points, but convictions. Only victions."

He pauses, making a little angle with pointed fingers under his chin.

Then a slight tilt of the head, a little expn concession. "Still, I can accept your position. You believe your innocent. It's always more difficult to settle a case when believes in his client," he says. "I can accept that."

"No," I tell him. "It's always more difficult to cut a d a client knows she's innocent."

His eyebrows go up a bit. "So you don't think you c to her?"

I make a face, like

"Maybe."

"Depends on what I sell."

"What would you liket' "What is this, buyer's day?" I ask him. "Give me a wish list." I screw up my face a little, like a market merchant kibitz with a customer. "Manslaughter, second degree." This means that if Tal if she killed Ben, it was the merest of accidents. I am step above simple battery, and only professional shame fact that any plea bargain must be approved by the court me from asking for that. For a thin man Nelson has a hearty laugh, with a control that traverses two octaves.

Halfway to a high kicks in with his own chortle, a cheap chorus to show he's on board. "That's rich," says Nelson. He's catching his breath, little red. "But I guess I asked for it. I had something a 1* realistic in mind," he says. His voice now takes on the s a pitchman. "Listen, this could be very hard on both of us. We cat easy, and do your client a service in the process. You' problem. The evidence is stacked in spades against She's not someone a jury is likely to take sympathy on,".."A wife with wayward tendencies‐who kills for arches an eyebrow as if to show me how he will out the villain. "All we want is her help, her coo put this thing behind us. She identifies her accomplice,. the special circumstances. No death penalty. She cops first‐degree murder. She gets twenty‐five to life. With a from me I'd bet she'd do no more than twelve years. young woman when she comes out."

"Otherwiset' I ask. "Otherwise I go for the whole nine yards, first‐degree murder with special circumstances. I'll push hard for the death penalty," he says, "and I'll get it."

From the corner of my eye I can see Harry swallow a little saliva as he sits in the chair next to me. ‐You're being more than a little myopic,"

I tell him. I convince him to humor me, to play along with my reasoning for a moment. "Let's assume, just for purposes of discussion, that she didn't do it. That the lady's completely innocent. You've offered her a deal she could not in good conscience accept. It may be terribly tempting, a certain result in an uncertain world. How can she deliver up an accomplice who doesn't existt' Nelson has poker eyes, for if this scenario concerns him, the prospect of some innocent man's being victimized by my client, doesn It show it. "Why are you so insistent that she did it?" I ask. "You have another candidatct' I purse my lips as if to say maybe. But I have no one to deliver to him. If I hand him Tod, he will want to know what evidence I have. If I deliver up the Greek, Lama would spend his days until die trial searching out facts to exonerate him. Given the personalities involved, Skarpellos and Lama, I would suddenly discover that Tony was playing cribbage with a dozen elderly matrons the night Ben was killed. "Suspects are your job," I tell Nelson. "I think we*re satisfied with the defendant we have. All we need to know is who helped her. Who carried the body, used the shotgun," he says. "It's an offer made to fail. Even if she were willing to enter a plea to a crime she didn't commit in order to save her life, she en't fulfill the terms."

He looks at me, like

"Nice story, but it won't wash." Lama kicks in.

"Have you heard," he says, "we got a photo ID .PWY going' down at the office? Seems the lady was a creature of be hint. Ended up at the same place every night. A motel clerk from @611 says she brought her entire stable of studs to his front door. % got him lookin' at pictures of all her friends. Only a matter if tift. Then the deal's off."

Harry meets this with some logic. 170 listen to you, our client already had all the freedom she O.Wd ask for. Lovers on every comer, and a cozy home to come : home to when she got tired," says Harry. "Why would she

‐%* to kill the meal tickett' 7 "Seems the victim was getting a little tired of tier lomm_ r., He was considering a divorce" says Nelson, "You have read prenuptial agreement? A divorce, and it was back to work your client."

Harry and I look at one another. "Who told you Ben was considering a divorce?" I ask. "We have a witness," says Nelson. He is not the kind to gloat over bad news delivered adversary'you haven't disclosed him to us."

"True," he says. "We discovered him after the prelim. still checking it out. When we have everything we'll pass it .1, But I will tell you, it sounds like gospel."

Lama's expression is Cheshire cat‐like, beaming Ir. comer of the couch.

I sense that this is his doing. "I think you should talk to your client.

I'm sure ‐itv reason," says Nelson. "If you move, I think I can *iwiw@

judge to go along with the deal."

"I'll have to talk to her," I tell him, "but I can't hold eiki hope‐"

"Talk:' he says. "But let me know your answer soon. going to trial, I intend to ask for an early date." z !"I 000, 00' . 0, @, / lo/ 1401; S

ARAH is crawling all over me like I'm some kind of jungle gym. "It sounds," says Nikki, "like it's not going well." She's talking about the preparation for Talia's trial. There has been an uneasy tnice between us since our dinner at Zeek's. , Nikki is beginning to take an interest in Talia's case. She claims this is merely commercial, just watching her investment and the Way I am handling the defense. But I sense something more here. There is a certain softening of her attitude toward me now that have openly acknowledged my earlier affair with Talia. I am to wonder if in this there may not be the seeds of a WW ‐start for us. I do not push it. "It would be easier if Talia told me everything," I say.

"Last I find out from the DA that Ben was planning a divorce. "T‐1‐‐'a bombshell, they dropped it on us during plea negotiations. T'il even get a hint from my own client." is seated at the kitchen table in front of a small portable a project for work. She hits the keys, and white symbols v. across a black screen like worms burrowing in loam. did she say, about a divorce?" Nikki's curious. tyli@_‐@says it's garbage, that Ben never said anything to her %7'uo; divorce J J. 17 do you think?" think I believe her." `%Mr Mes " she says. @; ‐ " I say. "It's possible Ben might keep his plans for a L from Talia, at least until after the senate confirmation of 236 STM AAARTINI his appointment. But if it's that big a secret, why would he somebody else?" That the DA claims to have a witness, *) i iz@:t:9 so intimate that they had Ben's confidence on this, doesn't vv not tome. "And this is pivotal," she says, "his plans for a divorcel" 1 look at her and make a face, like

"You can believe it.

The nuance of this latest twist in our case is not Nikki, this despite the fact that I've never told her 1 5 prenuptial agreement. It fleshes out the motive. If Ben *w7l"', to shed Talia after confirmation, once lifetime tenure on the was assured, and if she knew this, it could be seen as a motive for murder. If she waited', she could lose wiqq, 41", he can make out all the elements, Nelson can use this to a strong case.

"Lately she's compounding things by little lies and'tillarr‐11 I tell Nikki. 4 "Like what?"

"17hings I can't talk about without violating privilege, Nikki understands this. It was an unwritten rule marriage, a limit as to how much I could tell her 111,6,; cases I was working on. In Talia's situation, I can't n. the alibi, the story she fabricated for the cops a u her Vacaville, or the fact that the police are closin in n

"C"' that

the two of them were supposedly together e nit killed. "But you really believe that she's innocent of Ben's don't you?" Nikki is looking me straight in the eye A%1!4‐.,@ "I do," I tell her. "Maybe she has a reason to lie." 411 "Oh, she has a reason. She says she was protecting a Nikki stops her work and looks at me. "A lovert' I'm noncommittal on this. A kind of response that 7r(_ been transparent to Nikki. 41

"Another man." She declares this with confidence. W lost her touch, her ability to read my mind. "Your client is caught between you and her

‐*)wurr., another man, If I know her, and I think I do, real problem."

Nikki shares the female perspective V the war for information," she says; "you won't win. cares about this guy, and if what you're asking may jeopardy‐" : qt sounds like s9me kind of female fikd," I say. "A holy war dw only members of your gender know about."

Nikki smiles over at me, silent, intuitive, her eyes saying only oremember my warning." qt may cost her her life," I explain. L Nikki's attention is back to her work. She's talking now through the distraction of computer logic. ‐,Maybe she can't see the danger as well as you can."

‐,I'm sure of that." Nikki is busy now, knocking out some characters on the cornmind submerged for the moment in her work. Then, for 57'*Whecrular reason, she shifts away from the trial and Talia. _ "By the way," she says, "how is Coop these days? I miss seeing

"Urn," Coop

had been a regular at the house every Tuesday night, 971‐ Nikki making sandwiches for our weekly poker soirees. I she has not seen him since she moved out of the house. W has one of those tender spots common to many of her sex. taken a special interest in Coop since the double loss, his s passing and the death of Sharon. "Had lunch with him last week. I see him in court," I say; Mt poker ese days." i Ithat neither of us has much time for th ,U:i‐i. been wondering myself about Coop of late. I had always '‐'".MT7M that George Cooper was a man of unlimited resilience.

tandem tragedies visited on his life have now proven me to He puts a face on it in court, a professional veneer that 171n'oz, even the most blistering assaults by hostile lawyers and judges. But outside of the courtroom he is a different "1L subdued in ways I have never seen before, a shadow of the and gregarious man I once knew. V up in my lap again, this time in a cotton pajama. We call 11 rabbit suits," the things that little kids sleep in, complete feet and the embroidery of a hot air balloon on her. tummy. 404‐1‐Mggwl, and kissing me good night big hugs with her arms i =&,i I, my neck, and little kisses so'delicate they would not the petals on a rose. :71" takes her, and the two of them head for the back of the to read about bears and trolls, castles and elves, the that full little minds to sleep. @ left alone to think, and as always my thoughts return to 11@ now rapidly approaching. thing with Tod, it bothers me. Almost as much as it does He is different from her other friends. He's continued to support her, stand by her even now when the risks The others, her social set, shed Talia like a flea‐infe ket shortly after the preliminary hearing. Now they fate daily from the safety of their clubs or the securi homes. They read about it in the sanitized column morning newspaper, or watch as her life unravels 6 at night. I've heard this morning from Talia that Tod has by the police to appear in a lineup. According to thi all routine. But I know better. My letter to Nels accompanying the little handgun and identifying Tod touched it, to exclude his prints‐has singl go tomorrow with a number of other men, V1 halcmquaali the defendant, to stand before the white wall with the lines. Lama's keeping his witness, the motel clerk, bu I've told Talia of my concern, that in the end I thi be the enemy. She scoffs at this. But if he is charged, th of conflict will set in.

Represented by other counsel, sequestered from Talia by his own lawyer.

This impos this quarantine, will fire suspicion. Nelson will bleed fatted calf, with alternative offers, deals to each of the will only roll over on the other. I have wondered many much petjured testimony these tactics breed in our cour I have used them myself many times, in that formmer li worked for the DA's office. Nelson is true to his word.